By ICF Staff
October 10 2005

In the opening game of the Challenger Trophy at the PCA Stadium in Mohali, India A defeated India Seniors in a thrilling close finish. The India Seniors team put up a competitive total of 289/8 after winning the toss and batting, despite the failures of Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Kaif and Mahendra Dhoni. Irfan Pathan came out to open the innings with Tendulkar in a surprise move. Well-composed innings from Venugopal Rao and Yuvraj Singh laid the foundation, and a fast 50 from Ajit Agarkar capitalized on it.

For India A, Vikram Singh bowled with hostility and pace on the flat pitch, while Rudra Singh ended with the best figures of any bowler: 2/34 off 10 overs. Both looked better today than their teammate and India regular L Balaji, or for that matter the first-choice Indian pace attack fielded by their opposition.

In reply India A's openers Gautam Gambhir and Dheeraj Jadhav started in explosive fashion, but both fell in the 20s. Thereafter VVS Laxman and Hemang Badani played steady knocks but fell in the 40s before ensuring that the side could reach the 290 target.

However, a true team effort from the middle and lower order, including Niraj Patel, wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, Ramesh Powar and the two bowlers VRV Singh and RP Singh saw them overtake the target with 2 balls to spare and 1 wicket in hand. The Indian pace trio of Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar were expensive, with the best bowling coming from Jai P Yadav and to a lesser extent spinners Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik.

All-rounders Agarkar, Powar and Yadav had a good day out. India A coach Sandeep Patil will be pleased to grab a game from his better-known counterpart in the India team, Greg Chappell, as the India A side played more like a team, despite the fact that they were drawn from various sides as opposed to the India Seniors which have played together in the same team for a while now.

Potential contenders who raised their hands today from outside of the group that have already been selected for the squad are Powar, VRV Singh and RP Singh. Rao, who failed to make much of an impact in Lanka and Zimbabwe, won the Man of Match award; Yadav and Jadhav made an impact, and Suresh Raina disappointed again.